Brits face holiday hell as Europe's Cerberus heatwave kills three and temperatures soar above 45C

13 July 2023, 08:21

Brits have flown into holiday hell as the Cerberus heatwave hits Europe, with scathing temperatures soaring above 45C.

The heatwave - dubbed Cerberus after the three-headed dog from Greek mythology that guards the gates to the underworld - has seen temperatures edging closer to 50C in recent days.

The Spanish village of Loja near Granada hit 45C on Monday while Greece is forecast to soon reach 44C.

Greek officials have taken precautionary measures, introducing restrictions on the working hours of horses and donkeys and blocking people from accessing nature reserves.

But forecasters are already warning that the scorching weather will only get worse next week.

Read more: El Niño returns: Rare weather event behind scorching temperatures set to hit UK

Read more: When is the next heatwave in the UK?

Italy has so far been worst hit by the extreme conditions, with a 44-year-old road worker having become the first to die from the heatwave.

Meanwhile, two brothers, aged six and seven, are understood to have died after jumping in a reservoir in Manfredonia in southern Italy, to cool down.

A British tourist also collapsed in front of the Colosseum earlier in the week, before being passed bottles of water by passersby.

Extreme heat alerts have been issued across 10 cities due to the risks for vulnerable people.

The jump in temperatures has been triggered by a rare weather event called El Niño, which occurs between every two to seven years as the Pacific Ocean warms up and charges parts of the atmosphere.

Meteorologists confirmed its arrival last month, saying there would be an increased risk of droughts as a result.

The last El Nino was in 2016, when the country suffered a record hot year, and the Met Office has now said that it is likely the UK will see a new record this year.

Grahame Madge, a spokesman for the Met Office, said: “As Michael Mann [a climatologist] put it, think of climate change as being the rising tide then El Niño is the wave riding on top.

“El Nino is not solely responsible for the high temperatures, but when you add it onto the anthropogenic warming… then it’s likely to take global temperatures to a new record year."

But Brits staying in UK this summer will have to wait a bit longer for the warm weather to return.

The next heatwave is expected to arrived at the end of the month, reaching highs of 40C across a two-week period.